News Round-Up: 

Shoulder research: Researchers in Richmond, Virginia, USA, have concluded that "the prevalence of shoulder pain among competitive swimmers is high, but no guidelines exist to reduce shoulder injuries. Elucidating differences between swimmers with and without shoulder pain can serve as a basis for the development of a program to prevent shoulder injury that might lead to pain and dysfunction." A. Tate and colleagues at Virginia Commonwealth University, publish their paper "Risk Factors Associated With Shoulder Pain and Disability Across the Lifespan of Competitive Swimmers" in the next edition of the Journal of Athletic Training. The researchers conclude: "Given that exposure and physical examination findings varied between athletes with and without substantial pain and disability, a program to prevent shoulder injury that might lead to pain and dysfunction appears warranted and might include exposure reduction, cross-training, pectoral and posterior shoulder stretching, strengthening, and core endurance training."

Alex Dale Oen: Investigations into the death of Alex Dale Oen during an altitude training camp with the Norway team in Flagstaff, Arizona, could take a further two months after results of the autopsy into suspected cardiac arrest were inconclusive. "It has so far been no anatomical cause of death or injury which is related to the death in combination, are found. Until there is definitive test results, it may be another eight weeks or longer," the senior district physician Barbara Worgess said in an official statement. Meanwhile, discussion on the topic in the swim community has turned to the lack of medical tests for swimmers before they undertake heavy training for elite sport. In Italy and in some other nations, annual checks, including heart tests, are obligatory.